Every independent website, no matter how popular, will eventually dissolve into the abyss. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.
I started PC WEENIES, a tech-themed webcomic, in October 1998. The strip ran more-or-less continuously for 20 years. First starting as a single panel comic and then moving into a strip style format, I published three times a week, “or the next one’s free”, for most of its run.
I started with static HTML and GoLive CyberStudio, before moving to adding custom PHP (Thank you Tom Davis), before fully switching over to WordPress in 2008. It was during that time, I also incorporated my love of writing to pen an accompanying tech blog.
While PC WEENIES didn’t set the Internet world ablaze, it did have many fans. What started as a lark in late 1998 turned into a training regimen. I knew very little about digital drawing, let alone Photoshop, when I posted that first single panel comic. But, with time, practice and persistence, I eventually found my footing.
So what has become of this once beloved site?
First, things started to break. My WordPress site was showing its age. It featured a lot of custom code (Thanks Frumph!), integrated with ComicEasel. The whole shebang worked, at least for a while.
Software upgrades (namely a PHP update) broke the site first. But the site still limped along. Then came hackers.
I only realized there was an issue when my host sent me a note complaining about excessive CPU utilization. When I visited my site, in place of my blog was a landing page for a Golf company (!).
I was able to take care of the CPU utilization but the site was now permanently broken. I had no back-up (save for one from 2016).
As painful as the decision was, I decided to nuke the whole site and start afresh. That meant 16 years of content were now up in smoke. And nary a PC WEENIES comic on the web. Truth be told, when it happened, I felt a little sick to my stomach.
After acceptance kicked in, I started to think about what a new PC WEENIES site would look like.
I have some plans to use this place to post about things that interest me in the area of tech, illustration and comics. There will also be, on occasion, a brand new PC WEENIES comic or two. Instead of the strip style, I’m toying with the idea of making full page comics on occasion. I can’t promise a regular publication schedule, but I do miss Bob, Pam, Milton and the rest of the wacky gang at Footle.
For those who miss the old comics, fear not. I have a catalog of PC WEENIES comics on my computer. If and when I can figure out an elegant way to share them here, I’ll do so.
As always, stay tooned.
-Krishna